The exemplary embodiments of the present invention generally relate to appliances. More particularly, the exemplary embodiments relate to control units for appliances and methods for illuminating keys of such control units.
Generally, heuristic or prompting keypads have been developed by placing, for example, light emitting diodes (LEDs) or incandescent bulbs behind each key in a keypad as can be seen in FIG. 7. This type of design generally requires a large power supply, as there is a light source for each individual key. The conventional keypad design is also not compact in size. For example, the LEDs or light bulbs must be spaced apart from a respective key by a diffusion distance to ensure the respective key is adequately and evenly lit.